A/N: A special thanks to everyone who has read and commented on this story, and its prequel. If you like it, I'm glad; if you don't, rest assured another story is coming... soon, I hope.

Suddenly, Amoracchius flared. Kitoro's voice cried out, "There is someone here!"

I grabbed Michael's shoulder and we ran. About a dozen steps later, there was a ruckus behind us, and the foliage parted. I glanced back and saw a dozen sylphs flying at us. "Move, move!"

Michael pushed me one way around a tree and he went the other. The sylphs came around it and smacked into my shield. Four of them bounced off, the rest stopped in mid-flight, and we took our opening to run again. Michael kept Amoracchius moving, barely keeping them out of reach.

I tried to concentrate on opening a portal back to Chicago, but the lesson I'd just learned kept clanging in my mind. Titania is behind the Black Council. Does that even make sense? Was Aurora lying?

Lash's voice, calm, certain. The Fae are unable to lie. And yes, this does make sense. All this time you have been afraid the Winter Queen was going insane, but what if her actions have been only to balance the Summer Queen?

That was possibly the scariest thing I'd heard in months. Put it out of my mind for a sec, would you?

Every thought I had vanished, save one: open a portal home. A sylph came in low, just as Michael brought his Sword down on another. I brought my staff up, and the sylph turned to air the instant before I could clock her with it. Didn't matter. I brought the staff down again, focussed on home, and murmured, "Aparturum!"

A glowing yellow line formed in the air in the wake of my staff, then split open, exposing a dark city street.

Michael impaled another sylph, then I grabbed his shoulder and we jumped through.

We fell about three feet. I landed on my staff, which, unfortunately, I was still holding. My whole weight came down on my right hand, and after a moment's flaring pain, it went numb. Michael, taking the landing better, got back to his feet. I looked around. "I know this street," I said to myself. As the portal closed, eight sylphs jumped through. I stood up, dropping my staff.

It was night, traffic was non-existent, and there were eight beautiful, naked monsters about to rip my throat out. I love my life.

Michael stayed a half step in front of me, as we backed up to a storefront. The sylphs had finally learned to keep their distance, waiting for Michael to get distracted. I shook my hand, trying to wake it up.

Everything stayed tense for two more seconds, three. Then one of the sylphs opened her mouth in a cruel, pointy grin. It was the one whose nose I'd broken earlier, of course. "Hey, it was nothing personal, you know."

The rest of them opened their mouths, too. Three of them in a confined space, I could handle. Eight, in the open air…

My fingers started to twitch, but that was it. "Oh, man," I said. "I could really use a deus ex machina right about now."

"Isn't that my job, Harry?"

"Usually, but you're already involved here."

"In that case, we could just pray."

Maybe he did. Of in the distance, there was an explosion. Michael and I both looked up, because it had come from above. The sylphs froze, too. There was a huge crash, closer than before, then another, almost on top of us.

It clicked in my head. I knew exactly what was happening. Not exactly a god in a machine, but stars and stones, I'd take it. I pushed Michael off to the side. "Run!" I shouted. I had realized why the street was so familiar; it was only three blocks from the police station.

There was a final crash, and a massive, vaguely dog-like shape blew out the side of the building across the street and hit the ground where we had been. Its fur was still burning from where I – the real me, the one who actually belonged in this time, who would soon be kidnapped and beaten by the lycanthropes – had bitch-slapped it with a ball of fire.

It picked itself up. Michael and I stood frozen. Even the sylphs didn't move.

"What is that?" Michael asked.

It let out a very loud roar. "That's my other case," I said. "It's a loup-garou. And it's not very happy."

The sylphs let out high-pitched, inhuman shrieks, and tried to flee. Harley MacFinn's cursed werewolf form slapped two of them fro the sky, breaking them. Several more simply turned to air and drifted away. Another actually tried to attack, and died quickly from a backhand. I saw my nosey friend leap up into the sky and vanish into shadow.

Then it saw us. I had the feeling back in my hand, but I couldn't reach my staff; it was standing on it. Michael, as ever, was ready. "Stand down, beast, or make peace with the Lord!" he shouted, and his voice carried like no human voice should have.

I could be mistaken, but the loup-garou seemed to waiver a moment. Knowing that Michael had to survive this encounter, I stepped up beside him, left hand out. If I had to die to protect him, I would. But Titania… Could I take the risk of telling Michael?

Just wait another second, Harry, Lash said.

Another second until what?

Then I remembered how I dealt with the furry guy eight years ago: Using a tiny bit of its blood and a Snoopy doll, I'd deafened and blinded it. With no warning, it grabbed its own head, scratching at its eyes, then its ears. It let out a deafening howl of rage and confusion. I smiled. "Ha!" I said.

It flailed its arms once, twice, and one of its claws caught my outstretched hand.

Oh, son of a bitch, that hurt. I fell to my knees, screaming, clutching my left hand. Why, oh why did I not have a shield up? Because I'm stupid, that's why.

"Harry! Are you alright?" Michael was kneeling beside me. The loup-garou was loping drunkenly down the street.

"Yes," I gasped. "It just got the meat of the hand." I was bloodied, but I wasn't bleeding profusely. It hadn't cut my wrist.

"I have to stop it from hurting anyone else."

"Go. I'll catch up if I can. Otherwise, I'll see you soon."

He nodded, and took off. I felt sorry for the monster. I pulled myself up and stumbled to my staff. I grabbed it from among the detritus of the loup-garou's impact, and stood up.

Nosey the Sylph came out of nowhere and hit me in the face. I landed on my back, my duster open and my head spinning. She landed on my chest, driving the air out, and made to bite my nose off. I got my arms up, but she grabbed my right hand, bit it, then pulled my arms apart and went for the nose again. "I told you it wasn't personal!" I wheezed.

A small, precise shock of force hit her, hard, and drove her off me. I don't know what happened to her after that. I lay there, sucking in air. "Wizard Dresden?"

Weak, breathless and stunned, I couldn't answer. My hands hurt. A lot. The Gatekeeper's hood floated into view. He drew it back with one hand, revealing his scars and replacement eye. There was concern there, I think. His eyes drifted down to my chest, then widened in shock.

"You are full of surprises, my young friend."

I lay there a little while, unable to think clearly, while he did something. Then he pulled me to my feet. I got a massive rush from that motion. Lash? What's going on?

Her response was a little slurred. I am… dizzy.

You're dizzy? You don't even have ears. No fluid to get all mixed up.

I have yours. And your sense of balance. And you are dizzy, as well.

Good point. I didn't lose consciousness, but it was a close call. I felt so woozy, I had trouble seeing where I was going. Fortunately, the Gatekeeper held my arm.

"I'm a little… out of it," I mumbled.

"Not surprising. Sylphs can be poisonous. Their bite can corrupt the air in your lungs, or the oxygen in your blood."

Oh, I see. I'm faerie-drunk. I giggled, felt my staff appear in my hand at some point, then I stepped through a door and everything got dark.

A short time later, things got brighter again, and we were near my house.

"Wizard Dresden," he said. "You must disable your wards."

I looked down at my hands, bandaged and in pain. Thinking was getting a little easier. "I don't think I can. But I'll show you how."

He took my right hand in his left, and I gave him a crash course in how I build wards. They're not terribly complicated, but they're fairly sturdy. Of course, the Gatekeeper is a quick learner. He had my wards down in under ten seconds after I showed him how. Then I felt something soft under my back, and I finally passed out.

*****

I woke up on my own sofa, a few hours later. My head was clear, and the light outside was dim. I did a quick check with Lash.

I turned my head to see Ebenezar and the Gatekeeper talking quietly. McCoy saw me first. "Hoss, you alright?"

"Almost. How long was I out?"

"Few hours. You had to sleep it off. It's dawn, now. You were gone for about 30 hours."

How about that. I skipped over more than an entire day while in the Nevernever. Kind of made up for all the restarts I'd had. I hoped I hadn't gotten Michael in trouble.

"Where's Mouse?"

"Keeping watch outside. Didn't think the dog and the cat should meet yet."

"Good call. Look, Sir, I've got to tell you, about Kitoro - "

"Wait!" The Gatekeeper's voice was suddenly much louder than I had ever heard it. "What ever else transpires, I must not hear what you discuss. It is not my time to know."

I watched him move to the door. "Thank you," I said. "You saved my life."

He nodded. "Perhaps, someday, you will repay the favour." I had no doubt he knew what he was talking about, even if he didn't know when he was talking about. McCoy had to help close the door because it was still my old one, that wasn't set straight.

"What were you saying, Hoss?"

"Titania," I said. McCoy listened intently while I told him about my jaunt into the Nevernever.

He stay remarkably clam during the telling. His only comment after I finished was, "Could she have been talking about another plan? I know she couldn't lie, but she could easily misdirect."

"Another plan involving Peabody and various attempts to conquer the world?"

He paused, thinking. Then he used words I hadn't heard him say since the day we tried to fix the loft in his old barn, and he kept hammering his fingers.

"But why?" he added once he'd calmed down. "I don't get it. What did we do?"

I shook my head. "I have no idea, Sir."

"And who was this 'other' she mentioned?"

"Ah, that I can help with."

He looked a little surprised. "You can? You said you had the journal for all of thirty seconds."

"Okay, not necessarily something I can help with."

His face got stony. "The shadow?"

"Her name is Lash. She's an all-county champion speed reader, and has a photographic memory."

He sat quietly for another second. "She break the code?"

No. I know only what was written.

I shook my head. "Not her area of expertise. But we can write it out for you."

McCoy considered for a moment, studying my face. Then he nodded. "I've trusted you both so far," he muttered. The he went to his time box and pulled out a yellow pad of lined paper, and three pens.

He handed them over, and I thought, So, how do you want to do this? Take control of my hand?

No! No… there was a time when I would have, but I think it better if I just tell you what to write.

I smiled. Fair enough.

She dictated, and I wrote. It took until 10:00, then I handed it over. My hand was sore, but the bandage had been removed at some point, and I had added the beginning of yet another magnificent scar to my collection. "Here you go, Sir. Now, you know everything I know."

He sat on one of my overstuffed arm chairs. Mister came over to me and let me pet him for a few seconds, then went over to my teacher. Apparently, McCoy was in greater need than I. Between the ages of two and ten, that cat had not changed a bit.

"This'll take a little while."

"Is this the sort of thing you can figure out back in our own time?"

He looked up, then snorted. "Yeah, I think it's high time we got out of here. The other you going to be home soon?"

"Probably. I can't keep it all straight anymore."

"Then let's get gone."

We packed our stuff up quickly. All I really had to do was stand up, since Ebenezar had kept all of his stuff in the box. I was hungry, and so was Mouse, but neither of us complained. We spent most of the rest of the day walking back to the warehouse. I had time to think. I felt beneath my duster.

"He brought me through the Black Hall."

"Rashid?"

"I think so. I was a little dizzy, but the more I think about it…"

"Makes sense. That Council business I talked about? There was a meeting. After, the gatekeeper and I had a conversation. For various reasons, I loaned him the Key. So, you both would have had access to the Black Hall."

"Why didn't you take it back?"

"He needed it for several months."

"Not the Gatekeeper," I said, reaching under my duster, "me." I pulled out the Key, still slung around my neck.

He smiled without looking at me. "Call it a hunch, Hoss, but I think you're going to need it more than me from now on."

I didn't know what to say to that, so I kept quiet.

Back at the warehouse, McCoy set up the spell again, while I prepared myself. He explained it was much easier to go forward than back, since we would be surfing along with the current of time, instead of swimming against it. All the same, I kept the Soulfire and Hellfire on stand-by.

Of course, the ritual went flawlessly, and no one burned out their soul. When I opened my eyes, we were still in the warehouse, but when I looked at the floor, the sickly brown blood stain from the execution was there again. I was warm, but not as warm as when we'd left. Perhaps it was night time.

Outside, it was dark. The Beetle and McCoy's old pickup were right where we'd left them, covered in a sprinkling of water. There were a few puddles around. A good rain must have come through, and taken some of the heat with it.

"Talk to you soon, Hoss."

"Yes, Sir." I shook his hand. "be careful."

"First thing I'm going to do is spread the word, quietly, to the rest of the Grey Council."

I nodded. "First thing I'm going to do is get something to eat."

He smirked and handed me my car key.

I stopped at Burger King on the way home, which Mouse and I both thoroughly enjoyed.

Lash, I'm going to get a good night's sleep, then I think you and I are going to sit down and have a talk.

About Outsiders?

Yes. And anything else that might seem important.

Of course, Harry.

I pulled into the driveway of my house. As Mouse and I got out of the car, my front door opened. A short blonde woman in jeans and a Cubs jersey came running out. Murphy got within four feet of me, then stopped dead. "Harry? Where the fuck have you been?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"You've been gone for a month, where were you?"

"A month?!"

Molly came out of my dungeon apartment, now, and ran full tilt into me, gripping me with a fierce hug. My duster's repulsion charm blew her back into Murphy.

"Sorry, sorry about that," I said, and helped them both up. "Over-active jacket."

Molly was too winded to be angry. "Oh, Harry, thank God. I didn't know what to do!"

"Slow down! What's going on? What did I miss?"

"Bad things. Very bad things." Molly sounded on the verge of tears.

Murphy took over. "Three days after you left, a Warden came to check on you. Both of you. To see how Molly was progressing."

"I told him I didn't know where you were," Molly said. "He came back two days later, and then two days after that…" She trailed off.

"Harry," Murph continued, "you've been declared dead by the White Council. Show him," she said this last to Molly, who dug in a pants pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.

It was a formal declaration to Molly that, since her instructor was dead, she would have to sit her Council exams. "This is bullshit," I whispered. "You're not ready. They should have assigned you a new instructor."

"Maybe they think I killed you," she said, completely serious. "Just call them, and tell them you're alive!"

"Right," I said, still stunned. "Okay. A month, unbelievable." I couldn't believe McCoy had overshot us by so far. "Got to call the White Council, then I have to call McCoy."

"Thank you, Harry," Molly said again. She hugged me with one arm, then zipped back inside, Mouse following her.

"That wasn't the only thing that happened, Harry," Murph said. "And what happened to your hands?"

"Wolves and air elementals. And what do mean that wasn't the only thing?"

"Three members of SI got sent to the hospital. They were putting down four trolls."

"Dammit. I'm sorry I wasn't here to help, Murph. It's going to take a while to explain."

"Get started whenever you want. I'm not going anywhere. The trolls were looking for you."

I stopped dead at the top of the stairs. "Looking for me," I repeated.

"That's what one of them said. When they couldn't find you, they got… unhappy. Any idea why?" She used her cop voice to ask that, and I winced.

I shook my head. "No. Hells' bells… one crisis at a time." I ran downstairs to grab the phone.

It started ringing as I was reaching for it. I jerked back. "Weird." I answered on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Hoss?"

"Sir?"

"You hear what the date is?"

"Yeah. I was going to call and congratulate you on your aim."

"Look, I know how bad things are for you, already, but I've already spoken to a couple people. It's worse than you might know."

"Worse? Great! I've always said, if there's one thing the world needs more of, it's worse."

"Dammit, Harry, the Jade Court have entered the war! Formally. And the Red Court have renewed their offensives."

"What?" My voice was barely a whisper.

"Seems they were afraid of you, Hoss. You specifically. With you declared dead, they threw in."

I almost collapsed. The peace between the Courts and the Council had been fragile. But now it had shattered.

I found my voice, asked, "Anything else I need to know?"

"Just one thing. I started with pad you wrote out. He re-wrote the entire thing, except for the part Kitoro removed from his mind. I read that journal before. So, I took a quick glance, and found an entry I hadn't seen before." His voice got very quiet. "Harry, the only thing he mentions that wasn't in the other copy, was a reference to a Walker."

The Walkers. The Knights of the Outside. The Ur-Demons. The most destructive, evil things you could imagine. Pieces continued to fall into place. The last thing Peabody had done before his ill-fated escape form the White Council had been to unleash a mistfiend, a creature of the farthest reaches of the nevernever, bonded to mordite, a substance so antithetical to existence it was said to come from Outside.

He had suspected an Outsider was part of the Black Council, helping Titania. The Red Court may or may not have been getting help from an Outsider or two.

"We're in deep trouble, aren't we, Sir?"

"Yeah, Hoss. The deepest."

I hung up. "Harry?" Molly asked, quietly. I turned. She, Mouse and Murphy were staring at me. "What's going on?"

"Bad times are coming, Kid. Very bad times."